CD Reviews

Two great movies come together melodiously...

Jenni Grubb | Virginia Beach | 12/11/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This CD was a nice treat when I stumbled upon it a few years ago. Centennial Summer has always been one of my favorite movie musicals and alas, its not available on video. Jeanne Crain is also one of my favorite actresses from the 1940s, so it was great to see the State Fair (1945) soundtrack paired with Centennial Summer (even if her voice was dubbed for both films). Both film scores have nice, memorable and sing-along-able songs. I admit that the sound quality isn't the greatest... hey, they're old movies, therefore old masters, but I still give it the five star rating. The music recordings for the very rare Centennial Summer makes it worthwhile for me! I am so glad to see that they did not include the tracks from the 1962 remake of State Fair on this CD. The 1962 movie and music is typical of a remake... never as good as the original!"

Two classic Fox musicals make pleasant listening.

A. Andersen | Bellows Falls, VT USA | 02/17/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The combination of CENTENNIAL SUMMER - a Jerome Kern hit with an Oscar-nominated score and - STATE FAIR -R&H's only score written directly for film (six songs resulting in an Oscar Nom for Original Score and an actual OSCAR for BEST SONG)- are a wonderful pairing. The sound is not great but we are talking pre-high fidelity. The STATE FAIR songs are well-performed and scored. A more interesting album would be to combine this soundtrack with the 1962 Dot Records track of the remake."